Spring-motor



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

f J. P. SEIBBRLING. SPRING MOTOR.

No. 524,792. 'Patented Aug. 21, 17894.`

*Hl- I fue nomas Pneus co. Mmmm, wumnmn, a c.

(No Model.) 4y sheets-sheet 2.

J. SBIBBRLING.

SPRING MOTOR.

No. 524,792. Patented Aug. 21, 1894.

Maar/ mz NoRRls PETERS co, Puorou'rno.. WASHINGTON. o. c,

(No Model.) 4 sheets-sheets.

4J. P. SEIBERLING. SPRING MOTOR.

No. 524,792.` Patented Aug. 21, 1894.

WW M m 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

J. P. SBIBERLING.

SPRING MOTOR.

Patented Aug-21 SPRING- JOHN F.- SEIBERLING, OF AKRON, OHIO..

MOTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 524,792, dated August21, 1894A Application tiled November 14, 1893. Serial No. 490,955. (Nmodel-l To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. SEIBERLING, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Akron, county of Summit, and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Spring-Motors, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of sprin g motors adapted for use inpropelling sewing machines and other light machinery and employing afoot lever for winding the motor spring or springs and it consists in anovel arrangement of thelevers relative to the main motor shaft and tothe gearing connected therewith, and in the means for controlling thespring and regulating the expenditure of its power.

It further consists in certain details of construction and arrangementof parts of the motor, all as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:-Figure 1 is a front elevation of amachine, showing my improved motor, gearing, springs and casing insection. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, looking from the outer or left handend, with the outer, spring-casing plate removed to lshow the manner ofattaching thespring to the main driving gear. Fig. 3 is an opposite endelevation to that shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4is a side elevation, showing amodification in the arrangement of the `foot levers and gears forwinding the springs and Fig. 5 is a front view of the same. Fig. 6 showsa face and a side view of the clamp levers. Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 1l and 12are detailviews of the brake or speed regulating mechanisms. Fig.`

13 is an end View of a cylindrical spring arbor, showing the inner endof a spring connected with it, and Fig. 14 a plan view of said arbor.Fig. 15 is a side elevation, showing a modification in the foot levergearing; Fig. 16, a side andend view of the grooved, sliding collar;Fig. 17, similar views of the spring winding arbor cZ; Fig. 18, a sideview of the foot lever sleeve, and Fig. 19 a front view of a foot leverclamp. Fig.20, shows the inner ends of a foot and clamp lever and theinterposed spring. y

A, A', indicate end uprights of the frame of the machine, which may besimilar in construction to the usual support or tableof a sewingmachine, A2 indicating the table and B the main motor shaft, mounted`and rotating in suitable bearings in the end uprights. The standard Ais perforated or otherwise adapted, near its upper end, to receive agearinclosing casing C, having suitable perforated hub projections c,c', which `surround and form bearings for hubs or sleeves on springarbors d and d', fast on the shaft B. These arbors, at their inner ends,abut against the ends of the hub of a gear wheel E, which adjacent toits toothed periphery, has laterally projecting, annular anges e, e,which form drums, inclosing coiled springs f, f, the outer ends of whichare secured to the flanges e, and so to the gear wheel E. The arbors dand d', at their inner, adjacent ends, are enlarged or provided withdisks, having inwardly projecting, annular anges d2, surf rounding theends of the hub of wheel E, and formingcylindrical arbore through whichthe inner ends of the springs f, are secured to the shaft B. (See Fig.13.) 1 l v The `outer end or sleeve of the hub of wheel E is screwthreaded and has a nut g mounted on it, which is notched or grooved,transversely on its periphery, (see Fig.12,) to engage ways or ribs cl3formed on the inner face of the annular Iiange d2, of the arbor, causingthe nut fto rotate with the latter and at the same time permitting it totravel laterally on the hub of the wheel E, as the spring is wound orunwound. 1n winding the springs, the nut g travels outward, away fromthe wheel E, its outward movement being limited or stopped by itsabutting against the end of the arbor, and its inward movement, intheunwinding of the spring, by the wheel itself.

The disk d4, at the outer end of the cylindrical arbor d is extendedbeyond the cylinder and is provided on its outer face with an annularflange d5, which may be utilized in the application -of power, forwinding the ICO ing on the hubl d of the spring arbor, for a` purposewhich will appear.

The wheel E engages and drives a pinion vh, fast on a short transverseshaft h', mounted in suitable bearings on the 'standard A' and in thecasing C, and carrying, at its inner end, a spur gear h2, which, inturn, engages and drives a pinion h3, fast on a short, secondary shafth4, carrying a spur gear h5, and mounted in suitable bearing 'n thecasing C.

H indicates a ba d pulley, mounted and rotating freely on the main shaftB and from which motion is imparted to a pulley H', on the sewingmachine or other machine to be operated, in any usual manner. The hub ofthe pulley H has a pinion h6, fast on it, which engages and is Vdrivenby the spur gear h fo actuating said band wheel H.

I, (see Figs. 3 and 6) indicates a hand lever which may be applied tothe flange d5 (see Figs. 3 and 17) for winding the springs, whenvrequired, though, ordinarily, the winding will be eected'by means offoot levers, hereinafter described. The lever I is enlarged in thedetail view, Fig. 6, to show more clearly, the

construction of the devices for clamping the rim or annular iange d5.The inner clamp end of the lever isprovided with a curved flange t',convex on its handle side or face, in which, at or near its center, isformed or otherwise rigidly secured, a clamping jaw i', and oppositethereto, is a block I', adapted to slide or be adjusted toward or awayfrom the jaw il', in ways or ribs i3, formed at the sides of the lever,as shown. block, and slightly to one side, or out of line with the jawi', is a second or opposing jaw 2. .The lever I is provided underneaththe block I', with a longitudinal slot at 4 and a retainingbolt t5passing through the block and said slot in the lever, serves to hold theblock at any desired adjustment the slot permitting the adjustment whenthe nut on the bolt is loosened. vThe rear or outer end of the block I',is inclined, as shown, and between said end and a transverse rib oroifset at i6, on the lever, is a wedge l2, which can be adjusted,-

by means of a set screw i7, for adjusting the block I and jaw i2, asdesired.

- The jaws 'i' and t2 are set sufficiently far apart to permit the rimd5 to'rotate freely between them, when the lever is held with the' -jawsapproximately in a line radial to the shaft ofdisk d4, but when thelever is vi,- brated to throw the jaw i2 in advance of the jaw t', thetwo are thrown toward the opposite walls of the rim and are made tograsp the rim firmly and thus, by the further movement of the lever, torotate the spring arbor for winding up the spring thereon. A backwardmovement of the lever causes the jaws to release` the rim until thelever is again in position to re-engage the rim for the further windingof the spring.

J, Fig. v3, indicates a lretaining lever, pro-v vided with jaws, similarto those of the hand lever I, except that the relation of the jaws isreversed so that they serve to hold the rim d5 and shaft B againstbackward move-ment while the lever I is backed to take a new In the faceof thisv grasp. The clamping levers used in connection with the footlevers hereinafter referred to, are also provided with clamping jaws,

similar to those of the hand lever l, abovev described.

K and K indicate the foot levers, secured at their pivoted ends insocketed arms, formed on sleeves k (Fig. 13,) surrounding the shaft Band embracing between them a disk or wheel M, fast on the shaft B andprovided at its periphery with a rim or annular flange m, on each side.The sleeves k are Iheld 4against lateral displacement by collars 7c lofastened to the shaft B,

L and L are clamp levers, (see Fig. 19) p rovided on their outerswinging ends, each, with a loopor stirrup Z, which embraces one of thefoot levers, the adjacent faces of the said clamping levers beingprovided with jaws similar to those of the hand lever, above described,so'that as the foot levers are vibrated back and forth, the clamp leverswill alternately clamp the rim of wheel M, for rotating it and the shaftB and spring arbors for winding up the spring, and then-release theirhold to permit the foot levers to be retracted in a manner that will bereadily understood.

For controlling the expenditure of the power of the springs and thespeed ofthe machine operated thereby, the grooved collai g2, sliding onthe hub of the spring arbor, has engaging it a pin or spur n', formed onone end of lever n, pivoted in a lug or bracket n2 on the casing C andhaving its opposite end connected to a yoke 2, sliding on a rod 3 andinclosiiig a spiral spring 4, surrounding said rod. The end of rod 3,within the yoke 2,has a nut 5 on it against which the adjacent end ofthe spring 4 presses, the opposite end of said spring pressing againstthe inner per- IOO forated wall of the yoke. kThe inner end of the rod3, outside ot` the yoke 2, has also a spiral spring 6, surrounding-itand is attached to one end of a lever 7, pivoted to a lug on the casing,the opposite end of said lever 7 carrying or bearing against a brakeplate or disk 8, surrounding the shafth and pressed by the action ofsaid lever and springs against the wheel h2. Intermediate the yoke 2 andthe spring 6, the rod 3 passes through an eye in the upright arm of abell-crank or elbow lever 9, the horizontal arm of which is connected bya rod l0, with a treadle ll, by pressure upon which with the foot, theoperator can compress the spring 6, more or less, as required and sopress the brake plate against the gear wheel h2, with sufficient forceto stop its rotation, or to regulate its speed, as desired.

It will be seen that as the grooved collar g2 is moved outward by thenut g,in winding up the springs, it throws the connecting end of thelever n, outward and the opposite end of said lever, lmoving in theopposite direction, carries the yoke 2, inward, compressing the spring6, thereby increasing the pressure of the brake plate on the wheel h2,as the power IZO or tension of the motor springs e, is increased,

while, asthe motor springs unwind, in propelling the main gear Wheel E,the collar moves inward again, gradually diminishing the tension on thespring 6, and the pressure of the brake plate, as the tension of themotor springs is diminished, thereby automatically rendering the actionof said springs nearly uniform.

The foot levers are provided with treadles K2, of any approved form,pivoted to flanged or socketed blocks k2, secured to the lower ends ofthe levers and adapted-by means of a series of perforations at k3, (Fig.2.) and a through bolt, to be adjusted to any height required to suittheoperator. These foot plates K2, are provided with stops 7a4, which limittheir play or vibration. i

In Figs. 4 and 5, the foot levers, instead of being applied directly tothe main shaft as a fulcrum, are shown journaled ona short shaft B',mounted in a pendent bracket or hanger 0, secured to the table A2. Thelower `end of this hanger is forked as shown in Fig. 5,and is extendedin angular form, as shown in Fig. 4 to form bearings also, for the mainshaft B, thereby holding the two shafts in fixed relation to each other.The' flanged `or rimmed clamp wheel M is secured to the shaft B',between the arms o, o", of the hanger O, and adjacent to an arm of saidfork, the shaft B has a spur gear a, fast on it, engaging a pinion a',on a stud shaft b, on the arm 0,'of the hanger O. The pinion a', engagesand operates a spur the latter and winding the springs.

The foot levers when at rest or in their normal position, hang `pendentfrom the shaft with the clamp levers thrown out of engagement with therim of the wheel M and engage the latter only when vibrated by theoperator for that purpose.

In Fig. l5, the shaft B is shown provided with a ratchet disk M', inlieu of the flanged wheel M, and the foot levers are provided with pawlss, s, held in engagement with the ratchet disk by springs s', in lieu ofthe clamp levers. may be found desirable, but the clamp lever representsthe preferred device for Winding the springs, as, in practice, it isvfound that with it, there is less lost motion in engaging the windingwheel.

To prevent lost motion, as far as practicagear a2, fast on the mainshaft B for rotating.

. ble, springs] are interposed between lugs Z2 on the inner ends of theclamp levers and lugs Z3 on the foot-lever sleeves, said springs servingto hold said ends of the clamp levers with the jaws z" and i2 in closecontact with the rim while the levers are-being retracted to` In someinstances, thisconstruction the springs can be quickly and easilywouud,but where, from any cause, the operator is unable to use the feet, thehand lever can be employed and either can be used independently of theothers, or all simultaneously.

By the employment of the two foot levers the spring can be wound inabout half the time that it could be done by the employment of the handlever only, yas one foot can recede as the other advances, thus makingdouble quick time.

In winding the springs, either the foot 1evers or the hand lever orboth, may be used, as stated, the retaining lever J, in either caseserving to prevent backward motion of the j Winding wheel and motorshaft while the operating lever or levers are being retracted toA 8 takea new hold of the driving wheel.

As the shaft B is rotated, carrying the arbor d with it, the latter actson the nut g to rotate it, and said nut acted upon by the screw threadedhub of the gear wheel, is forced outward or away from the gear wheel,until it abuts against the inner end or wall of the arbor disk, when itsfurther movement is stopped and the winding of the spring is comtheaction of the motor spring, as the tension of thespring is diminished,until the nut abuts against the gear wheel disk, when the force of thespring will be expended and re-winding will be necessary. K

The treadle connected to the brake plate enables `the operator to giveincreased resistance to the action of the spring and to stop the actionof the motor, as required.

4 As the gear wheel E is rotated by the action of the motorspring,motion is imparted through the train of intermediate gear wheelsdescribed, to the band pulley on the motor shaft and thence to thesewing machine or other machine to be operated,in anysuitable manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim asvnew,'and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a spring motor, the combination with the motor shaft, of the gearwheel rotating thereon, the coiled motor spring surrounding said shaftand connecting it with the gear wheel, the winding wheel connected to.said shaft, and the two pendent foot levers, independently pivoted tothe winding wheel shaft on opposite sides of and connected to saidinterposed winding wheel, substantially as descri-bed,

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lrotating on said shaft and provided with a screw-threaded hub, theflanged spring arbor fast on said shaft the coiled spring connectingsaid Wheel and arbor, the foot levers connected to said shaft forwinding the spring and thenut engaging the spring arbor and traveling onthe screw-threaded wheel hub for limiting the Winding and unwinding ofthe spring, substantially as described.

4. The combination in a spring motor and with the main shaft thereof, ofthe gearwheel rotating on said shaft and having the screwthreaded huband an annular flange forming' the spring inclosing drum, the springarbor having an annular flange surrounding the screw-threaded wheel hub,the motor spring connecting said flanged Wheel and arbor, the nutengaging said arbor and traveling on the screw-threaded hub, the springwinding wheel connected to the motor shaft, anda lever engaging saidwheel for winding the spring, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the motor shaft, the coil springs connectedtherewith, as described,

the winding wheel lfasten said shaft, the pendent foot levers pivoted tosaid shaft on each side of said winding wheel, Winding levers looselyconnected at their lower ends to said foot levers and their upper endsconnected with the winding wheel by suitable connections to engage thewheel, to rotate the same, to wind up the springs, substantially asdescribed.

6.- In a spring motor the double-fiangred,

l spring-winding wheel and the shaft on which said wheel is mounted, incombination with the pendent winding levers pivoted on said shaft, oneon each side of and engaging the fianges'of said interposed windingwheel, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. In a spring motor, the combination of the motor shaft, a gear wheelErotating thereon,

ka coiled spring surrounding said shaft and having one end connectedwith said-shaft and the other with said gear wheel, a gear pinion hmeshing with said Wheel E and connected with gear wheel h2, gear pinionh3, meshing with said gear wheel h2 and connected with gear wheel h5,gear pinion h6, the gear wheel h5 engaging, and the band wheelHconnectedwith said pinion,said band wheel and pinion h6, being supported upon andrevolving around said motor shaft, a winding Wheel fast on said motorshaft and a pendent foot lever on each side of and connected with saidwheel, by suitable connections to rotate the same, all arranged forjoint operation, substantially as described.

8. .In a spring motor, the combination with the motor shaft, of the maingear wheel provided with a screw-threaded hub, a spring arbor fast onsaid shaft, amotor spring connecting said gear Wheel and arbor,a bandpulley on said shaft, intermediate gear wheels connecting the main gearWheel and said band pulley for actuating the latter,a brake plate.acting on an intermediate gear wheel, and a nut traveling on thescrew-threaded wheel hub and connected to said brake plate forregulating the resistance to the force of the spring, substantially asdescribed.

9. The combination with the motor shaft, o f the lmain gear wheelrotating on said shaft and having a screw-threaded hub, a spring arborfast on said shaft, the motor spring connecting said wheel and arbor, aband pulley on said shaft geared to and actuated from said mai-n gearwheel, a brake plate acting on an intermediate gear wheel forcontrolling the speed of the motor, a nut traveling on thescrew-threaded hub and connected to said gear plate and a treadle alsoconnected to said gear plate for controlling the speed of and stoppingthe motor, su bstantially as described.

I0. In a spring motor the flanged spring winding wheel, in combinationwith a lever for actuating said wheel, provided with the fixed jaw fi',the adjustable block I', carrying the jaw t2, and the adjustable wedgeI2 and its adjusting screw i7, for adjusting one clamping jaw relativeto the other, substantially as described.

11. The combination in a spring motor, of the winding wheel providedWith the annular lrim or anges m, fm, the pendent foot levers arrangedon opposite sides of said wheel, the clamp levers connected one to eachfoot lever, to engage said interposed winding wheel and the springsinterposed between clamp levers and foot-levers, substantially as andfor the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of-November, A. D. 1893.

JOHN F. SEIBERLING.

